Wilfred De’Ath, a former BBC producer who was accused of indecently assaulting a girl has lashed out at police, but only after being told that he will not face charges.

Speaking on the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, De’Ath criticised police for going ‘too far’ with their inquiry:

“I do realise they were only doing their job, but it seems to me they were overzealous.

“They failed miserably in the case of Jimmy Savile. They failed to get him when they could have got him. And it seems to me they’ve gone too far the other way now and are arresting people on rather spurious allegations.”

He was accused of indecently assaulting a 14-year-old girl in the 1960s, an accusation which he strongly denies. However, he knew that Savile liked young girls:

“I did say to [Savile] ‘I think you’re living dangerously’.

“I was pretty shocked and disgusted. Also, I was physically frightened of Savile. He had been a boxer and a wrestler and he was in with some very rough people.

“I would never have dreamed of grassing him up.

“We were all womanisers in those days. But as far as I know womanising is not a criminal offence.

“We were not paedophiles. You propositioned 100 women on the chance that two or three would say ‘yes’.”

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said there was not enough evidence to charge Mr De’Ath after the complainant had withdrawn her statement.